Thunderstorms Ben Plawsky, John Naydenov, Ben Stadler, Phil Carter

Development of Thunderstorms  Warm humid air rises in an unstable environment.  Three Stages –Cumulus Stage – Strong updrafts supply warm, moist air continually higher causing the cloud to grow vertically. –Mature Stage – Most active, gusty winds, lightning, heavy precipitation, and sometimes hail.

Development of Thunderstorms –Dissipating Stage – The combined cooling of falling precipitation and downdrafts cause the storm to die down.

How are Thunderstorms Measured?  There is no official scale to measure thunderstorms, so we measure thunderstorm severity by the strength of its winds, the size of its hail and its ability to generate tornadoes.

Where do Thunderstorms Occur?  Occur anywhere there is warm moist air.  Occur most often around the equator.

Available Warning System  First the thunderstorms are detected using radars and spotter reports to create weather service issue warnings. After that parts of the media are used such as TV and radio to reach the general public.

Safety Procedure  When in a thunderstorm go indoors for risk of being struck by lightning. After that do not use any electrical equipment or anything that in apart of a pluming system because using anything like this could attract lightning and damage equipment or electrocute the user. Stay away from windows doors and concrete floors. Last avoid any area that contains natural gas for risk of gas being ignited.

Most Severe on Record  The largest thunderstorm ever recorded happened in Dallas Texas on may 5th, Many people were outside at the time and were injured by large pieces of hail when the storm started. As a result 17 people died. There was also flash flooding created by the storm. 1.1 billion dollars worth of property was either damaged or destroyed from hail flooding and lightning.